South of Midnight embarks on a weirdly whimsical adventure

For Compulsion Games’ third video game, the studio is heading to the American Deep South and infusing its culture with dark fantasy elements. I had the opportunity to play through Chapter 3 of South of Midnight, getting a hang of the game’s characters, systems, and stories. While the moment-to-moment gameplay felt familiar, the world is unlike anything I’ve played before.

South of Midnight follows Hazel, a young woman who holds the title of Weaver, a person with the ability to mend spirits and broken bonds. Hazel’s journey begins with her looking for her mother after a hurricane sends their home descending into a river. During this adventure, Hazel finds herself entangled in a world of gothic mythical creatures and awakens her own powers as a Weaver. Family secrets unravel as she embarks to find her mother.

Chapter 3 begins after Hazel’s separation from her mother and the discovery of her powers. What instantly struck me when playing South of Midnight was the game’s stop-motion animation style, which made it feel like I was playing a Laika film (Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings). Not only does it add a nice cinematic touch, but it also highlights the character and creature designs. I haven’t even played the full game, but I already want Hazel and Catfish statues to put in my office.

South of Midnight’s gameplay is a blend of combat and platforming. To navigate the bayou, Hazel utilizes double-jumps and gliders to cover large distances. She can activate her spirit powers to turn broken structures into temporary platforms for her to land on, some of which require quick reactions from the player in order to activate in time.

Battles take place in enclosed spaces, with multiple enemies firing projectiles and taking physical swings at Hazel. In addition to standard melee combo attacks, she has power-based abilities that let her send enemies flying, pull them in close Scorpion-style, and stun them. These powers have cooldowns, so you’ll have to manage them accordingly as you deal with groups of enemies at once. Playing on the game’s standard difficulty, I died a few times as I got a handle on the flow of combat, learning when to dodge and when to let my abilities fly. That said, each combat area has a healing item that can be used once per encounter.

As you level up, you can unlock new abilities or improve existing ones in the skill tree. Upgrades are pretty standard, allowing you to increasean ability's damage output or increase the amount of damage an enemy receives while under its affect. Upgrades are bought with “Floofs,” a currency found while exploring the world.

South of Midnight quickly grabbed me with its unique animation style and unlikely injection of fantasy elements into a southern setting. The combat was much more standard fare, but presented a large enough challenge to keep me engaged throughout my time in Chapter 3. Compulsion Games has managed to deliver something drastically different with its first two games, and it looks like that trend will continue in South of Midnight.

This preview is based on a preview build of South of Midnight played on an Xbox Series X. South of Midnight launches on April 8, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S and PC.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_